Brussels seminar on Iran-Europe nuclear cooperation

27 November 2018

“The Global Plan of Joint Action [JCPOA, Iran’s nuclear deal] is an important achievement; Iran has fully complied with its commitments under this agreement. This is what the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran said for political affairs.

At a seminar on Iran-European nuclear cooperation held in Brussels, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Abbas Araqchi, recalled that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as that international body observing Iran’s nuclear activities, had on 13 occasions confirmed the loyalty of Iran to its commitments. “However, Iran has not yet reached the economic benefits of the JCPOA,” added the Iranian diplomat.

According to Iran’s deputy foreign minister, the United States, by reviving anti-Iranian sanctions, has greatly reduced the benefits of this agreement for Iran.

“The JCPOAis an international agreement that has been flouted by the United States, the very ones that punish the countries that respect it,” Abbas Araqchi said, adding that “preserving the nuclear agreement is an international responsibility.” .

The deputy foreign minister said, however, that the nuclear deal would not stand a chance of remaining in force if Iran fails to reap benefits.

US sanctions and the lack of financial channels prevent the implementation of Annex 3 of the JCPOA, which provides for large-scale civilian, purely commercial nuclear cooperation. As a result, Araqchi reiterated the need for the European Union to create a special financial mechanism, which, according to the diplomat, would be indispensable for the continuation of Iranian-European cooperation and for the implementation of the annex. 3 of the JCPOA.

As for the efforts made by the European Union to preserve the nuclear agreement Mr Araqchi said:

“All this shows the good will of Europe. However, the functional measures, the mechanisms supposed to allow Iran to profit from the nuclear agreement or the mechanisms likely to preserve the agreement despite the American sanctions, have not yet been realized. “